This should be the next activity after the Humpty Humpty quiz. For some grades you may wish to end the unit at this point or focus on the research component of the unit. The next four activities involve procedures that require access to a variety of chemicals and lab equipment.
The blood analysis lab introduces students to the blood typing system of A, B AB and O. During this activity the students will NOT be using actual blood or be exposed to blood that may present health concerns. Rather, they will be provided with a procedure using a system developed by Ascent Educational Technologies (AET) in collaboration with Stelly's Secondary School in Brentwood Bay, B.C. The system also can be modified to illustrate Rh factors. If you are interested in extending the activity to include Rh factors, please send me an e-mail to AET.
Part 1 - Observing the Reactions of Known Blood Samples with Anti-Serums
This activity provides students with a chance to develop their technique for determining blood type. Some time should be spent introducing/reviewing how the A,B, AB and O blood typing system works. The emphasis in Part 1 must be on technique. If all equipment is not clean, the risk of improper results is quite high. As well, students need to make careful observations of the agglutination if they are to produce accurate readings in future tests.
In Part 2 the student will be using the procedure from Part 1 to identify unknown blood samples.
The following materials will be required for this activity:
Go to Student Blood Analysis Page
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